Recently, the Tamilnadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) came up with a proposal to normalise the curriculum among the colleges citing the mobility of students as an issue. It was implied that autonomous colleges are not exempted from complying with the normalised guidelines proposed by TANSCHE. Are we receding in higher education by normalising the curriculum as the solution for student mobility issues? This article explores the background, privileges and accountability issues of autonomy briefly.
The university education commission headed by Dr S Radhakrishnan in 1949 that formed the basis for autonomy, pointed out that, “Higher education is, undoubtedly, an obligation of the state but state aid is not to be confused with state control over academic policies and practices”.
Have we implemented autonomy as intended by UGC in letter and spirit? Unfortunately, it is a sad state of affairs that though UGC has liberated autonomous colleges, the Acts and statutes aren’t compliant in rendering ‘self-governing’ status to its constituent or affiliated colleges in many universities across India. Continued and periodical collection of affiliation fee by the universities across India is still being practiced against UGC regulation 3.5 (F. No. 1-18/2021 (CPP-II). The courses run by the autonomous colleges for more than half a century are still designated as provisionally affiliated by the respective universities demanding affiliation fee to be remitted for approval of their new programmes.
An autonomous college is, in principle, free to fix the fees for every programme and every course. It is also free to decide the mode of collection of fees. Likewise, a college will be designated as fully autonomous only if it enjoys its right to admit students without interference by the respective university, appoint teachers and employees, decide on course content, carry out teaching, conduct examinations to evaluate the performance of students and make efforts to maintain high educational standards with only guidelines or framework from the university and state government, but not remotely controlled by them.
Does autonomy have accountability for its privilege of academic freedom? Autonomy does not mean sovereignty over social objectives of the state or country and it has its inherent mechanism of being accountable to the parent university and UGC through its governing body and academic council where UGC and university representatives play a vital role. Recently, the intelligent ‘Naan Mudalvan’ scheme proposed by Tamil Nadu chief minister, based on the social objective of skill development to replenish the 48% of skill deficit, has been taken up by the state’s autonomous colleges in letter and spirit, extending their fullest support. Many autonomous colleges have begun to invest in skill and entrepreneurship development centres to achieve this social objective, honouring the mission of the state government.
Has autonomy in higher education nourished higher education in the 45 years since inception in 1978? The fact that the higher percentage of autonomy given to the colleges in TN has augmented the quality of higher education can be validated with the significant percentage of the state’s colleges and universities being ranked by NIRF in comparison with other states. There are over 894 autonomous colleges all over India that are approved by the UGC. It is noteworthy that TN has the highest number -- 232 -- of autonomous colleges, accounting of almost one fourth of such colleges in India. As per the NIRF 2023 rankings announced recently, at least 35 TN colleges have been placed among the top 100 colleges in the country. Autonomous colleges have a lion’s share among these 35 liberal arts and science colleges.
Education being an indispensable element in navigating the economy of the country, any effort to make changes needs to be thoroughly debated and opinions must be solicited from the stakeholders. Normalisation may not be the generic solution for issues in education when diversity has validated its potential for 45 years. The time-tested model of autonomy should further be nourished with responsible academic freedom to facilitate academic innovations to appeal to demographic transitions.
Changes have to be thoroughly debated
Education being indispensable in navigating economy of the country, any effort to make changes needs to be thoroughly debated
Footnote is a weekly column that discusses issues relating to Tamil Nadu
(Paul Wilson is the Principal and Secretary of Madras Christian College Chennai)